Hey, frens. I was talking to a relative I hadn't seen in a very long time. She is now retired but having worked mostly in sales doesn't have a good retirement scheme. She wants to continue working, but needs to do so from home and asked if I knew of anything she could do. I really don't. Do any of you have any suggestions for something a nice, reliable lady could do? She didn't finish college so she doesn't have a degree, but she's sharp and gets things done. With so many employers needing dependable help, surely there must be something for her. Please post any ideas you have. Thanks!
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I was a medical transcriptionist for many years. At home after a few weeks of training just learning their computer program. These days its mostly editing reports that come up instead of typing them all out.
My favorite benefit was volunteering for overtime.
Best benefits if your employer is a medical school university.
Thank you. I think she might like that, although I would imagine learning the medical terminology could be an issue. I don't understand what you mean about editing reports. How would you know how / what to edit? lol. Yeah, the overtime would be nice, especially if they are looking for volunteers! Thank you. I'll put this on the suggestion list for her.
In the old days when doing a report you had a blank screen and would type out what you hear. Nowadays you get a report before you on the screen and you correct (edit) what might be the wrong word. All systems have spell check and medical dictionaries.
Employers would usually start you out on something easy like just editing chest xrays. I learned terminology on the job.
As for OT, larger institutes have bigger OT payments depending on the shift worked. For example I worked 9 - 5, then volunteer for a 4 hour shift from 11 pm - 3 am which came to more than a regular full 8 hr shift. Came in very handy for a single mom not getting child support or govt aid.
Once you get your foot in the door there is nothing stopping you from doing the same on the side for doctors in your neighborhood who might need a transcriptionist to cover for theirs on vacation, maternity leave, or quitting.
Thank you! One last question, if I may. Are you paid by the hour or by another metric, like, how many pages you complete? I'm so happy to hear you were able to support yourself and your children doing this. Thanks for your help.
The bigger employers usually pay by the hour but computer tracks your progress (counts # of lines) as you work. But dont worry about that at the beginning because they all know you are becoming familiar with the terminology.
If a small company like a private doctor's office it depends on what you negotiate. It is much easier by the hour for both parties. They dont count pages anymore because both sides can dispute the amount of text per page, eg is this 1/2 page or 3/4 page or full page of type. Or how would you determine payment on a 2-page letter, 1st page full and 2nd page the closing sentence.
I loved this work. I stepped down from the headaches of a managerial position to the flexibility and quiet of transcription.